


Blutung

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Death Fic, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Theatre
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-07
Updated: 2014-04-07
Packaged: 2018-01-18 12:18:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1428190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A rehearsal for a high school play takes an unexpected, tragic turn.  Warnings for very slight gore, sad stuck, and major character death. And bad writing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blutung

**Author's Note:**

  * For [afractionof](https://archiveofourown.org/users/afractionof/gifts).



> Traded prompt fic with the ever talented, ever lovely person, afractionof
> 
> Thank you so much for sharing beautiful music with me, inspiring me to continue working, and for being there for me when I needed to vent. You’re a great writer, and a fantastic friend. 
> 
> Our prompt was sudden death.
> 
>  
> 
> Notes: Inspired by my own experience as a mediocre actor in high school. Fun fact: the original version had John dying from accidentally drinking a peanut butter milkshake.
> 
> Listened to: AWOLNATION: Sail while writing.

Skaia High’s Drama Department had several set backs when it came to their fall play. Their drama teacher Mrs. Mendicant had decided to let the Juniors make all the decisions this year when it came to the fall play since she had promised them she’d let them be in charge of at least one production during their high school career. She ended up abandoning her position as supervisor when her mother got sick and she had to take a leave of absence from work. She left her Teacher’s Aid Jade Harley in charge while she was gone.

 

Jade did all she could to keep the Juniors from getting too rowdy and tried to get them to focus and actually do their work. However being a tall, skinny girl with ugly clothes and more hair on her head than three people combined, no one really listened to her. After she started bringing her dog Bec to the Drama Department after school meetings, everyone started taking things more seriously, no one would dare mess around when Jade could just whistle and have her Devil beast attack them.

 

The Juniors argued among themselves over which play they’d end up doing. Since Jade was nothing more than a supervisor and not a member of the Drama Department but rather President of the Science Club, Horticulture Club, and Team Captain of the Robotics squad, she was in no position to help them out. No, this was something they’d have to figure out themselves.

 

Rose wanted to stage a production of her erotic wizard fanfiction. That idea was shot down not two seconds after she’d put it on the table. Karkat had suggested they do Shakespeare but he ended up flipping everyone off after they teased him about wanting to do Romeo & Juliet. No one seemed to agree on anything. Dirk Strider, who was upset that they hadn’t gotten anything done on four weeks, decided to assume control by picking a play at random from an old pamphlet of monologues. He ended up picking A Blight of Stars, a murder mystery based on the true unsolved murder of a famed Hollywood director of the silent era set in the 1960s.

 

In three weeks they’d be on stage and the curtain would rise on them performing together. As it was, they didn’t exactly have their shit together. Dirk walked around stage left, reading his lines when Rose came over to him wearing her costume, even though it was just a read through rehearsal and full costumes weren’t necessary. She nudged Dirk’s arm, and nodded in Jade’s direction.

 

"Why does she get to bring her dog to school, isn’t that against some health code? If I brought my cat you know how many people would be up my ass?"

 

They saw Jade ruffling Bec’s fur while a sophomore props assistant walked by.

 

"Well first of all, your cat is dead Rose. It’s been dead for four years now. If you dug up Jaspers and decided to bring his decayed cat body to rehearsals that’d be a huge issue. And second of all her Grandpa owns the school, I’m positive she can do whatever she wants."

 

Rose sighed, “When you’re right you’re right. Oh, Dave and John want to talk to you.”

 

"About what?" Dirk asked.

 

Before she could answer the two boys walked up the steps to the stage, walking in equal step.

 

"About your date with Jake last night." John said.

 

Dirk looked to his right where Jake was looking at Nepeta’s phone. He didn’t look up from the phone when John said that, so Dirk assumed that he hadn’t heard that. Dirk frowns at John and Dave, and turns so that his back is facing Jake and Nepeta.

 

"How the hell do you two know about that? No one knows about that, it was supposed to be a secret."

 

"Aradia told us." Dave answered, "She heard it from Jane."

 

Dirk handed his script to Rose, turned on his heels and stormed off to the costume closet.

 

"You think he’s mad?" John asked, Dave and Rose quietly chuckled as they watched Dirk walk away.

 

The costume closet, which was really an abandoned classroom that had been renovated to be the Drama Department’s costume space and dressing room. Dirk walked in to find Jane sorting through old costumes.

 

"Hi Dirk," she greeted when he stepped closer to her.

 

"Oh, don’t you try being nice to me, Crocker. I know what you did."

 

Jane puts down a beige dress and frowns at Dirk.

 

"What I did? Honey, what exactly did I do?"

 

"You told-" Dirk pauses, his voice is much too loud, he needs to lower it, speak a bit more calmly, "You told Aradia about my date with Jake and she told John and Dave about it."

 

"What? Fucking Aradia, that little death loving pixie told me she could keep a secret, I can’t believe she blabbed!"

 

"You can’t believe-Jane you’re the one who told her in the first place!"

 

"Well I only told one person, ok I had to gossip with someone, how was I supposed to know she was going to turn around and tell Heckle and Jeckle?"

 

A throat clearing alerted them to the presence of Eridan Ampora and Karkat Vantas standing in the doorway.

 

"Would you two mind taking your insipid little quarrel outside? Kar and I need to change into our costumes."

 

"It’s not a dress rehearsal." Dirk said.

 

"Yeah well tell that to God Emperor Jade Harley, she wants us all in costume so she can film us in practice and send it to Mrs. Mendicant." Karkat said.

 

Dirk and Jane sighed and went to stand out in the hall to give Eridan and Karkat privacy to change. As they left they overheard the two of them gossiping.

 

"Can you believe they used to date?" Eridan asked Karkat.

 

"Eridan, you are so stupid, they never dated, they just had belligerent sexual tension after one awkward kiss at a party in seventh grade."

 

Dirk shakes his head after shutting the door to the costume closet.

 

"How does Karkat know everyone’s romantic business?"

 

"He revels in that sort of thing. You’re lucky I didn’t tell him about your date, the info would be all over the school." Jane said.

 

"Yeah back to that, what were you thinking telling Aradia our business, I told you I was taking Jake on a date in strictest confidence!"

 

"Calm down, everyone already knows you two are practically an item anyway, besides I had to tell someone."

 

Dirk exhaled, he wasn’t mad at Jane, not really. Frustrated was the right word to use in this context. “That’s not the point. The point is that we didn’t want anyone to know our business, our first date was supposed to a private thing.”

 

"Well…then what’d you tell me for?"

 

Dirk bites his lip, shifts on his heels before clutching Jane’s hands and proclaiming, “Because I HAD to tell someone, I was just so excited, I mean he said yes, it was our first date!”

 

Jane laughs in her “Hoo hoo hoo” way, smiling at her best friend. “Oh, honey I’m so happy for you! Ah, I’m sorry I told Aradia, listen feel free to never tell me about any of your future dates.”

 

"Not on your life, I love telling you my business. Just don’t tell Aradia my business, deal?"

 

"Deal."

 

Eridan and Karkat exit the costume closet, and Jane and Dirk reenter to put on their costumes.

 

"So have you asked Dave out yet?" Dirk asked, his back to Jane as he changes his pants.

 

"Ugh, no! I can’t, John never leaves his side, I don’t wanna ask out a guy with my cousin standing right there."

 

"Dave would probably invite John on the date anyway."

 

"Right?"

 

"I’m sorry Janey, that sucks."

 

"It does, it’s like those two are joined at their codependent personalities."

 

They turn around and see each other in their costumes for the first time. Jane is wearing a lime green dress with a short hem and white go go boots.

 

Dirk snickers, “You look like Raquel Welch.”

 

Jane grins, “And you look like Robert Redford.”

 

"You think so?" Dirk adjusts his neck tie, admiring his grey wool suit in the vanity mirror.

 

"Absolutely. Now come on, let’s get this rehearsal done and over with."

 

They go out into the hallway, and see Rose pressed against the bright green wall, her hands tangled in Kanaya’s short hair, her lips pressing against Kanaya’s. Kanaya has one hand squeezing Rose’s thigh, her long fingers disappearing up the hem of Rose’s blue plaid mini skirt.

 

"Ahem," Dirk coughs, getting their attention. They pull away and smooth their hair and their skirts.

 

"Oh dear, we didn’t think anyone was in there." Kanaya said, her voice still calm as ever despite the flush in her cheeks.

 

"We were putting on our costumes." Jane said, smiling at them.

 

"And you were…" Dirk trailed off, waiting for either girl to finish his sentence.

 

"Right, um, that’s what we were doing too, going to put our costumes on." Kanaya said.

 

"Kanaya, Rose is already wearing her costume." Dirk said.

 

Rose and Kanaya look at each other, trying to come up with something witty to say. When they couldn’t come up with anything, they just walked past Dirk and Jane, their faces a pretty cherry red from their blushing.

 

Dirk and Jane look at each other, and giggled as they made their way to the auditorium.

 

"Did you know-" Jane asked.

 

"Oh please, everyone knew, they spend every minute together."

 

"Well that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. After all, John and Dave spend a lot of time together."

 

They round the corner, and Jane stops giggling to ask Dirk, “You don’t think those two are-“

 

"Oh no, the only thing going on between those two are their matching boxer shorts." Dirk told her.

 

"Oh my," Jane said, her hand going right up to cup her face like a prudish southern belle, a part she enjoyed role playing when not performing as a gumshoe.

 

They return to the stage, Aradia, Nepeta, and Jake head off to get their costumes on. Jake catches Dirk’s eye, he smiles at him, and mouths, ‘You look sexy’, Dirk winks at him, his mouth upturned in a slight smirk. Jane nudges Dirk after the three of them walk past them. Dirk elbows her back, feeling really good about him and Jake. John and Dave walk together, heading in the same direction that Aradia, Nepeta, and Jake had gone in. Dirk grabs their arms, stopping them from going any further.

 

"Please tell me you two haven’t said anything to anyone else about mine and Jake’s dating life." Dirk said.

 

"Well we told Rose, and it’s more than likely she told Kanaya." John said.

 

"And Kanaya might tell Karkat, he’s like her little brother that she confides in about everything." Dave said.

 

Dirk lets them go, “Just please don’t go around telling anyone else our business.”

 

"Please, who are we gonna tell?" John asked.

 

"John," Jane says, the tone in her voice a warning all on it’s own.

 

"But hey, tell us one thing: How was the date?" Dave asked.

 

Dirk looks between the three of them, before deciding on the best way to describe it. “It was so good I’ll be thinking about it before I go to bed for the next two weeks.”

 

John and Dave look at each other and shake their heads. They leave together, seemingly disappointed that he didn’t divulge any details about the date itself. Jane pats Dirk on the back, and hands him a script left on a chair. She picks one up for herself, flipping to the page her character’s first line is on.

 

"Forget about them Dirk Strudel, just focus on the play."

 

Dirk rubs his eyes, trying to get his vision back.

 

"You okay?" Jane asks.

 

"Fine, fine. My eyes are just blurry that’s all."

 

Everyone returns back to the stage, dressed in horribly tacky sixties fashion. From her seat in the front row, Jade picks up a megaphone, holding her dog’s leash in one hand, and says, “Alright everyone, thank you for getting into costume, it only took us an hour of wasted time, good job. Whenever you’re ready, start from the first line, and remember I’m gonna film all of this from my phone and I’m gonna send it to Mrs. Mendicant so please, please please don’t act like a bunch of fuckasses.”

 

Everyone on stage rolls their eyes. They picked up their scripts, and turn to the first page. Jade holds up her phone, presses a few buttons and then shouts, “Action!”

 

"Do you need anything else, Mr. Tainter?" Dave asks, looking at Karkat as he recites his first line.

 

"No Peterson, not tonight. Is it all cleaned up out back?" Karkat asks Dave.

 

"Yes. All cleaned up and locked." Dave responds.

 

"Good, Henry. Thanks." Karkat tells him.

 

Dirk turns around, his hand on his mouth preparing to sneeze when instead he felt a sharp pain shooting through his lower spine, a strong, aching pain that he felt all the way through to his stomach.

 

"Ow!" He hissed.

 

"Dirk? You alright?" Jake asked, concern clouding his face.

 

He smiles up at him, “I’m fine, I-AHH!” He falls to his knees.

 

Something was happening to him, he didn’t know what it was though. He clutched his sides as black dots filled his vision, only to be replaced with the cloudy blurriness from before, then his sight cleared, then darkened and became cloudy again. He coughed twice, then vomited what felt like a gallon of sick. He could see blood in the puddle, spotty and stringy, like speckles on tile. He wipes his mouth, his sleeve comes away stained with puke and blood. He winces as the pain returns. Jane and Jake rushed to his side, getting on their knees they picked him up, carrying over to a makeshift cot hidden in the wings. Jake gently took off Dirk’s jacket as Jane loosened his tie. Dirk could hear the murmur of the rest of the Drama Department scrambling, trying to figure out what to do.

 

"I called 911, they should be here soon." He hears Jade say, she sounds panicked, her dog is barking up a storm, sensing Jade’s nervousness.

 

"Dirk, Dirk can you hear me? Please, what’s wrong?"

 

He wants to tell Jane that everything hurts, he coughs and it feels like his ribs are going to break. His head feels heavy, and yet surprisingly light like the blood is being drained. He could hear everything, all sounds were augmented, including Jake whispering, “Dirk, please tell me everything’s going to be alright, please tell me you’ll be fine.”

 

Dirk coughs again, this time a thick syrupy tastes escapes his mouth after that Dirk heard Jake’s shriek.

 

"Jade, we need medical help NOW, oh my GOD!" Jane cries, her voice jumping to a scared octave.

 

Everyone rushes to Dirk’s side, he grabs his two friends hands, squeezing them, feeling their skin’s warmth more than his own. He heard noises, footsteps, everything was way too loud. He heard Aradia let out a sob, above him he saw Nepeta handing John some paper towels from the bathroom. His sides hurt, everything hurt so much. He just wanted it to stop, he didn’t understand why this was happening. He opened his eyes to see Jake’s stunned face, covered in the thick blood that Dirk had coughed out, dripping down his jawline.

 

John and Dave rushed to Jake’s side, wiping off the blood, while Jake stared at Dirk, unable to move or acknowledge the two boys trying to clean him off. Time seemed to slow down, everything happened with a cold clarity. Rose had taken gauze out of a first aid kit. Kanaya was pacing, while Aradia and Nepeta looked at Rose, waiting for her to tell them what to do. Eridan pulled Karkat away to tell him something. Jade was on the phone again, screaming, asking why the ambulance wasn’t there yet.

 

Dirk felt soft, familiar arms scoop him up, and he relaxed then, nuzzling against the chest of his friend. He closed his eyes, too tired and in too much pain to stay awake for any longer than he already has.

The last thing he felt before passing out was the lips of the person who held him in their arms, pressing a kiss to his sweat drenched hair and then another gentle kiss to his forehead.


End file.
